The invention relates to outboard marine drives, and more particularly to the swivel bracket clamping assembly providing frictional steering resistance.
An outboard marine drive is mounted to the transom of a boat by a transom bracket. A swivel bracket is mounted to the transom bracket and has a generally vertically extending tubular portion receiving a vertical tube of a swivel head assembly supporting an engine above the swivel head assembly and a lower drive unit below the swivel head assembly. The tube rotates in the tubular portion about a vertical axis to steer the boat. A clamp band in the swivel bracket extends circumferentially around the tube and has a pair of spaced generally parallel end tabs extending radially outwardly into a recess in the swivel bracket.
In the prior art, a screw is threaded into a threaded hole in the swivel bracket and engages one of the tabs to drive the one tab toward the other tab, such that the clamp band is tightened around the tube to increase frictional steering resistance. A problem encountered in the prior art is that the noted other tab may yield and deform and move into the tubular portion, making the clamp band ineffective, particularly when overtorqued.
The present invention addresses and solves the noted problem with a tightening assembly which not only tightens the clamp band but also retains the tabs and prevents deformation yielding movement thereof into the tubular portion. This enables the user to increase the steering friction as desired.